Secrets and Lies
by Iris RainbowWolf
Summary: In one summer, it seemed as if the secrets that the town of Riverdale had begun to bubble over. And it all started with the disappearance, and possible murder, of one of the richest kids in all of Riverdale. Everyone in the Town With Pep had their own lies to keep, their own secrets.. And Roxanne Andrews was no n Roxie keep her secret or will it spill out with the rest?


**Secrets and Lies**

**Chapter One**

**The July Fourth Tragedy**

Freshman year had come and gone, giving way to what _should_ have been an epic summer. My twin brother, Archie, and I were supposed to go on a road trip with our best friend, Jughead. But Archie decided to cancel last minute, never really giving a reason as to why. In fact, my twin barely said two words to me the entire summer break. It was clear that he was hiding something big from me, but this was _Riverdale_. A town filled to the brim with secrets and lies. A town where the typical apple-pie family are nothing more than judgemental hypocrites. A town where the rich mean girl with constantly berated and left unloved by her own mother.

A town that killed that same rich mean girls twin brother.

Though, maybe I was jumping the gun just a bit. It wasn't proven that Jason Blossom was murdered, but he had been missing since July fourth. The story was that the boy had drowned after trying to retrieve his sister Cheryl's glove from Sweetwater River. But, to me, that didn't track. Jason Blossom was captain of pretty much every team that Riverdale High had to offer. Including the swim team, the Aquaholics. So it was hard to believe that Jason drowned. If you ask me, either the football star had either faked his death or, according to my macabre imagination, he had been murdered.

Soon enough it was the night before the new school year and I was getting ready to go out to dinner with Archie. Our friend Betty was meeting us there and, according to the texts I was getting from Kevin Keller, the girl next door was _finally_ going to tell my clueless twin about her feelings. To me, Archie and Betty were end game.

Riverdale was small, so it didn't take long for Archie and me to get to Pops. Betty joined us not too long after.

"So what was the highlight?" I asked my blonde bestie.

"Of my internship?" was Betty's response.

"Of course, Bets" I told her. "I _need_ details, girl."

"The Tony Morrison book release party I organized, by far" the blonde sitting next to me said. "And at the end of the night Tony Morrison who is, as the two of you know, my literary hero, says to me 'd_on't rush this time, Betty. It goes by so fast at your age. One summer can change everything_."

"Truth" I nodded, fiddling with the pad and pen I had stolen from behind Pops counter. I had stashed it there after my shift, so the pages were already covered in doodles.

"Wow. That is so true" Archie agreed.

"How was working with your dad?" Betty asked.

While I had started waitressing at Pop's Chok'lit Shoppe and sneaking off the southside, Archie had been working with our dad. Pouring cement at Andrews Construction was about as exciting as it sounded.

"To pass time, I would start composing these poems, in my head. And at night, I'd go home, I'd write them down..." Archie trailed off.

"You don't even like _reading_ poetry" our blonde best friend commented.

My twin just shook his head "They weren't poems, they were song lyrics..." Archie went to continue but I interrupted before he could get the chance.

"And they were actually _good_" I put in, adding the finishing touches on my sketch for my _Vixens_ comic.

Archie only gave me a small look of thanks before turning back to Betty. "And working on them made me feel like..."

"What, Archie?"

My twin had to have been blind to not see the big, fat, carebear-style ray of love the girl next door was sending him. I may have been shipping Barchie, but still...gag, that's my brother. Gross.

"It made me feel like I'd finally broken through to something real. About my life and what I should be trying to do with it. "

"Music, obvi" I smirked,

"That's right" Archie nodded, "Starting this year, tomorrow."

"Are you gonna ask Ms. Grundy to help?" I asked, finally putting my pen down.

"What about football?" Betty asked when Archie ignored my question. "Can you do both?"

Archie just sighed "I'll try out, at least"

"Does dad know about this?" I asked with a furrowed brow. Like most parents, Fred Andrews wanted his kids to go to college. Archie getting a football scholarship would be the good old fashioned American dream. That's why I was a cheerleader, the scholarship got me into college to study art.

"Not yet" Archie shook his head. "Until I've got things more figured out, you two are the only people I'm telling, okay?"

Betty nodded enthusiastically while I just shrugged. I was more than happy to let Archie be the one to tell dad, personally, I didn't see what the big deal was.

"Like I said, they're pretty awesome" I added in after my brother told Betty that he was finishing up a few demos tonight. I was working on some new artwork, just a little something for when Archie has a full tracklist and he could cut a mixtape.

"Also... I've been thinking... about us, Archie..."

And that was my cue to leave. Grabbing my milkshake, I climbed over the back of our booth. Just as I did... someone new walked into the diner. Looking back at our table, I saw Archie's attention focused solely on the new girl.

"Hi" the dark-haired girl greeted after Pop told her that her order would be ready shortly.

"Hi" Archie and I said in unison.

"How are the onion rings here?" she asked.

Archie was the one to respond with a hormone-induced '_so good_'. Gross. But at Archie's recommendation, Pop's Chok'lit Shoppe just made another five bucks.

"My mom and I just moved here, so..." the girl explained. From New York, apparently, and she was going to be starting school with us tomorrow. "Veronica Lodge" she introduced after making a witty movie reference that I was 100% sure that Archie didn't understand.

"Archie Andrews."

"Roxie Andrews" I put in, causing Betty to give me her best 'WTF' look. "Twin. Younger, prettier, better in every way" I added, offering my hand to the socialite. "Oh and this is our ride or die, Betty Cooper."

"Wait" Veronica said. "Are you..."

"Supposed to give you your tour tomorrow? Yes" Betty smiled. Ever the nice girl. "I'm your peer mentor."

And then Archie did the one thing that he could have done to make this situation worse. He invited Veronica Lodge, the hot new girl, to sit and eat with us. She said no, of course, but still. And don't get me wrong, this wasn't me being a bitch to the new girl, I fully planned on having lunch with her tomorrow. Maybe I could even get her to try out for cheerleading, I needed a friend on the squad. I loved my girls, but it wasn't like we were besties outside of cheerleading.

Veronica left shortly after that, followed by Betty. Quietly, Archie and I enjoyed our milkshakes and onion rings before heading home as well. Tomorrow was the start of our sophomore year and we both needed the sleep.

* * *

To say that the first day was hectic would be an understatement. Archie and I fought over the shower, which was par for the course. Sadly Archie won that battle of rock-paper-scissors and I had to wait. Thankfully those forty-five minutes gave me enough time to put the finishing touches on my summer reading report and finish shoving my cheerleading uniform into my River Vixens duffle bag.

"Hey, dad!" I heard Archie yell from the stairs, just as I shut off my blow dryer. "First day of school and we're already late."

"Shit" I cursed, unplugging my blow dryer and grabbing my bags, rushing out of my room to join my brother downstairs. "Well, if _someone_ didn't take a forty-five-minute shower" I teased, nudging Archie in the ribs.

"Hey, you stopping by the site later?" Dad asked.

"Dad, it's my first day" was Archies response.

"Oh, we gotta get you going in the office, so _next summer_ you're not on the crew" Dad told him. "Roxanne, you have work or cheerleading this afternoon?" he asked me.

"Work, and maybe cheerleading. Depends on how our captains feeling" I said with a shrug. "Archie has football tryouts though" I added, hoping to get Archie _out_ of the family business for at least a little while. Dad was quiet for a moment, looking at Archie with that typical 'proud dad of a football player' glint in his eye. Usually when Dad came to a game, it was mostly to see his baby girl cheer. But if Archie actually made the team? I think Dad would have a pride-induced aneurysm. Which would be better than the complete _meltdown_ he had when he caught Jughead and I napping in my bed. For the record, nothing happened, but still Dad freaked major.

Juggy was banned from the house for a week.

"Or is that not okay?" Archie asked, suddenly unsure.

"No, it's uh... it's okay..." Dad said. "Good luck."

Smiling, I walked over to Dad and pecked him on the cheek. "Love you, Daddy" I smiled before rushing after Archie.

Riverdale was a small town. Everyone's grandparents had been babies together, so naturally we had all inter-mingled over the years. There were exceptions, of course, my mom had moved here when she was about my age, and there were a few kids who had moved here just last year. And then this year, we had the addition of Veronica Lodge. But did she truly count as a new addition? Sure the posh new girl was born and raised in New York, but I heard that her parents were raised right here in Riverdale.

One of the people whose family had been here since forever was Reggie's. Reggie Mantle was the stereotypical yippy puppy parading around as an alpha male douchebag. Deep down I knew that he was a good, decent small-town boy. He just didn't act like it most of the time.

And maybe I was still a little salty after he stood me up last year.

So once Reggie started asking Archie about his work-out regiment, I wandered away into the crowd to find Betty. Maybe I could tag along on the tour she was giving Veronica.

"Riverdale High first opened its doors in 1941 and..." I heard Betty start as I approached the two of them.

"And yes, they haven't redecorated since" I added, causing Betty to chuckle and Veronica to grin.

"Girl, I feel you there" the brunette said with a chuckle. "Honestly, I feel like I'm wandering through the lost epilogue of _Our Town._"

"Girl I feel you there" I repeated, linking my arm through Betty's with a chuckle.

"So what's the social scene like here?" Veronica asked us "Any night clubs?"

"A strip club called the 'Ho Zone' and a _tragic_ gay bar called Innuendo." Insert Kevin Keller, son of the Sheriff, the greatest gay best friend a girl could ask for. "Friday nights football games and then tailgate parties at the Mallmart parking lot. Saturday night is movie night, regardless of what's playing at the Bijou, and you better get there early, because we don't have reserved seating in Riverdale. And Sunday nights...thank god for HBO."

"Dude, do you breathe?" was the first thing out of my mouth, causing Kevin to flick my forehead. Jerk.

Two places Kevin forgot to mention was the Twilight Drive-In, and the Whyte Wyrm. Though I didn't really blame him, both of those places were on the southside of Riverdale. A place 'northsiders' didn't frequent unless it was for a dare or they just wanted to cause trouble. While the Drive-In was just that, the Whyte Wyrm was a biker bar which was usually packed with the local biker-gang; The Southside Serpents.

I, personally, had been to both throughout the summer. Not that my friends or anyone knew this, of course. Betty and Kevin tended to get super judgy and unnecessarily worried when I did something 'reckless'. Like the one time I forged my dad's signature so that I could go to a tattoo shop in Greendale.

"Veronica Lodge, Kevin Keller" Betty introduced. "Veronica's new here, Kevin is..."

"Gay," Veronica cut her off, offering Kevin her hand. "Thank _god_. Let's be best friends."

And then, of course, Kevin all but ruined it with his need for gossip.

"Is it true what they say about your dad?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper. I couldn't have facepalmed harder.

"That he's the devil incarnate?" Veronica rebutted, her demeanor changing quickly. "I stand by my father. Does everyone here know?" Betty and Kevin literally tried to look everywhere that _wasn't_ Veronica.

"Yea, sorry about that" I winced. Hiram Lodge may have been the devil, but he was still her father.

Veronica groans delicately "Wonderful," she said. "Ten minutes in and I'm already the Blue Jasmine of Riverdale High" and with that she started walking away.

"Way to go Kev" I sighed before following after her. Thankfully, Betty was hot on our tail as we continued the tour.

I was mostly quiet as we continued the tour. Especially when Betty mentioned the dance this weekend. I was never really one for school dances, plus this years semi-formal was more than likely to be canceled because of what had happened to Jason.

Hopefully I had to work the night of the dance. Finger crossed.

Suddenly Veronica stopped short, the sudden lack of motion causing me to ram into Kevins back.

"What's with the stoppage?" I asked, moving to see what the hold up was. Turns out it was just Archie, so therefore nothing too important. But apparently that just wasn't the case with Veronica Lodge.

"_There's_ the hottie we were with last night" she said, grabbing on to Betty's arm. "The red-headed Ansel Elgort. Is he your boyfriend?" Veronica asked, causing all three of us to answer at the same time.

"No, he's straight." "No, we're just friends." "Ew." Obviously that last one was me. Cuz again I state... _EW._ "He's my brother" I reminded Veronica when she looked at me.

"In that case, mind putting in a word?" she asked me. "I've tried every flavor of boy but orange."

"Actually to clarify..." Kevin interrupted for me. "Betty and Archie aren't dating, but they _are_ endgame."

"Truth" I nodded. One of the many things Kevin and I agreed on was the fact that Betty and my brother absolutely _belonged_ together. And it seemed that Veronica was on board the Barchie ship.

"You should ask him to the semiformal then" said the socialite.

"Agreed."

"She _should_, but I heard it might be getting canceled. Because of what happened to Jason." Kevin told us. "They're gonna tell us at the assembly."

"Who's Jason and what happened to him?" Veronica asked.

That caused all of us to stop walking before Kevin finally told the new girl about the tragedy that had befallen the Blossom family this summer. We were all quiet as we walked the rest of the way to the gym for the assembly.

* * *

"Thank you for that moment of silence" Cheryl Blossoms voice sounded through the auditorium. "Many of you have been lucky enough to have known my brother personally. Each and every one of you meant the world to Jason."

I was not friends with the Blossoms. Sure, Cheryl was captain of the Vixens and we exchanged friendly texts and 'hellos' in the halls. Sometimes we would have lunch together and talk about cheer or the comic that I was working on. I was not, however, friendly with Jason Blossom. And I knew for a fact that no one in this school meant anything to him, aside from his twin of course.

I sat with Jughead in the nose bleeds, even though he and Archie weren't talking at the moment. I watched as the rest of the student body applauded Cheryl's announcement; that the back-to-school semi-formal would not, in fact, be canceled. From where I sat, I watched as my brother kept stealing glances at the music teacher, Ms. Grundy. It was weird when she glanced back over her shoulder at him.

* * *

When lunch finally rolled around, Betty, Archie, Kevin and I were sitting at 'our' table. At Kevins insistence, Archie had pulled out his laptop and started playing one of the few songs he had written and recorded. He was my brother, and naturally I wanted to tease and say that he sucked. But in all reality Archie Andrews had talent. He was nervous of course, looking at the three of us with an unsure expression. Archie had no reason to be worried of course. My brother was good, even if he didn't think so.

Suddenly his gaze drifted upwards, passed Betty, and he snapped his laptop closed. Looking up from my art pad I saw that Veronica had made her way over to us with her lunch tray. "Can I join?" the girl asked.

"Yea" I nodded, moving to sit on the other side of Kevin.

"What are we doing?" Veronica asked as she sat down across from Betty.

"Listening to one of Archie's songs" the blonde informed, grinning brightly at my brother.

"I thought we were going to have to pretend to like it, but its actually really good" Kevin added.

"Normally I would tear down Arch, cuz it's my job, but I've been listening to this all summer and I just can't find the heart to lie to him" I added.

"Plus it's impossible for Roxie to lie to Archie" explained Betty.

"Truth" I nodded solemnly. It was a curse, really, not being able to lie to my twin. There were some instances where I could keep things from Archie. I could sneak off to the southside and not utter a word, I could get him presents and be able to hide them expertly. But if Archie were to directly ask me if I was hanging out at the Whyte Wyrm, or if he were to mention the shopping bag under my bed. Well, then I just _couldn't_ lie. And it wasn't as if I hadn't tried or anything. Lying to Archie Andrews was physically impossible.

"Wait" Veronica paused. "That was _you_ singing?" she asked my brother. "Something you wrote?"

And of course Archie was as modest as ever, "It's rough" he said.

"No, it's _great_, you tool" I told him, sending him a light kick under the table.

Then I saw it. As Veronica was asking Archie little questions about himself, the glint in Betty's eyes instantly turned green. I was all for my best friend and my brother getting together, but Betty needed to let Archie come to that conclusion by himself. Now, if they were actually dating, then yea, there would be issues. From beside me, I could see that Kevin took notice too.

Thankfully Archie was slightly clueless when it came to female affection that didn't come from me or our mother. So he was able to easily segue into asking Veronica about her first day. Which, honestly, I was a bit curious about it too. Being the new kid in a small town couldn't have been easy.

"Not to be a complete narcissist, but I thought people would be more..."

"Obsessed with you?" Kevin asked. "Any other year, you'd be trending number one, for sure."

I rolled my eyes "This years all about Cheryl Blossom tryna win an Oscar for '_best supporting psycho_' for her role as Riverdale High's bereaved Red Widow."

Suddenly, Archie gathered his things and stood. "Hey, I should go" he lamented "I got that meeting with Grundy and then football tryouts, so..."

"You play football, too?" Veronica questioned in awe. "What don't you do?"

Without even answering, Archie shouldered his backpack and walked away.

The second Archie was out of earshot, Kevin leaned forward, his eyes locking on Betty. "Before you ask, Blue Jasmine, no, she has not invited him to the dance yet."

Throughout the day, Kevin and I had been trying to get Betty to ask Archie. Hell, I had even tried to drop subtle hints to Archie. Though, in retrospect, that might have been a terrible idea, considering my big brother had a tendency to not pick up on the small things when he wasn't completely focused.

Hopefully one of them would suck it up.

Not even a second later, the air surrounding our table shifted uncomfortably and when I looked up from my newest comic strip, I saw Cheryl Blossom sliding into the seat beside Betty.

"Sooo, what are you four hens gossiping about?" Cheryl inquired, her dark eyes glancing about the table. "Archie's Efron-esque emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?"

I legit didn't even bother holding back the gagging noise I made. I seriously didn't need to hear people gossiping about my _twin brother._ It was super gross.

"Extracurriculars" Veronica answered without batting an eye. "Weatherbee wants me to sign up for a few."

"Cheerleading!" the redhead gushed. "You must! Roxie, you agree, she absolutely _must_!"

"Totally agree" I nodded, holding up the quick sketch I had been working on of Veronica in a Vixen's uniform.

"I'm senior captain of the River Vixens" Cheryl told the new girl.

"Is cheerleading still a thing?" Kevin asked. I shot him a glare and dug my elbow into his bony rib. Though Cheryl burnt him worse.

"Retro, eternal, _iconic_" I grinned, flipping my orange curls over my shoulder, earning a proud smirk from the older girl.

"At Spence I sat at the _top_ of the Elites' pyramid. I'm in" Veronica told us. Well that's good. That was something the Vixens needed if we were going to _crush_ this season. Then she turned to Betty with a no-nonsense look in her eye. "Betty, you're trying out, too" she told the blonde.

There were many reasons why Cheryl Blossom and I weren't besties. The main one being she was a total _bitch_ to Betty Cooper. I think that it had to do with the fact that Betty's older sister, Polly, had been in a relationship with Cheryl's brother Jason. In Riverdale, there have always been whisperings about the Blossom family. It wouldn't be much of a surprise, honestly, to find out that those rumors were true.

Having Betty on the squad was always a dream of ours, thats why she had tried out with me last year. Only, I made it and Betty didn't. Betty was good, too. Literally the only reason why Betty didn't make the team was because Cheryl had said she was too fat. She wasn't fat at all, for the record.

"Well, you're a total smoke show now" Veronica complimented.

"She was last year, too, _ cherylbombshell_ is just a bitch" I shrugged.

"As hot and as smart as you are, Betty, you should be the Queen Bey of this drab hive" Veronica maintained. "Look, if you want to be a River Vixen, I'll help you prep, I have moves. I'm sure Roxie will be all for it?" she asked, turning to me.

"Done. Totally. Yes" I agreed with a wide grin.

"You know what?"Betty paused looking between me and Veronica. "Show me your moves."

* * *

Throughout the tryouts, I worked on my '_Vixens_' comic strip while Cheryl, Tina, and Ginger watched the other girls and boys fumble through their cheers. Until that is, Betty and Veronica took the floor. At that moment, I dropped my pen and sketchpad into the messenger bag and watched my girls rock their cheer. Naturally, when they were through, I stood and gave a loud whoop of my own before running over to them and hugging Betty tightly.

"Ladies, where's the heat?" Cheryl asked. "Where's the sizzle?"

"Well, you haven't seen our big finish yet."

At that, Veronica pulled Betty in for a steamy kiss. Well that was slightly unexpected; but as usual, Cheryl was not impressed. "Check the sell-by date, ladies, faux lesbian kissing hasn't been taboo since 1994" she snapped. "So let's see if you do better with the interview portion of our audition." That was new, I didn't remember having to be interviewed last year when I tried out.

Just as I thought, Cheryl used this opportunity to be a total bitch to Betty. Asking about Polly Cooper, and possibly trying to get Veronica to not like Betty. Really all she did was paint her own brother in a bad light and I couldn't help but send her a small glare. No, Jason and I weren't friends, far from it, but what she was doing was unnecessary. And maybe a little bit petty, actually. I could tell that Betty was holding back, trying not to snap. She was well overdue, in my opinion, and honestly I was just _waiting_ for the moment she finally did. On the other side of Betty, I could see Veronica glancing down at the blonde's hands. Curious, I looked down as well, barely holding back my look of surprise at what I saw. Four, bloody, crescent moons in the palm of her hands. When the hell had that started?

"Veronica," Cheryl's dark gaze snapped over to the girl in question. "Welcome to the River Vixens. Betty, better luck next time."

"Oh come on, Cheryl..." I started.

"Why?" Veronica asked, "Because you couldn't bully Betty into being a bitch?"

"I need girls with fire on my squad" the other redhead said. "Roxanne understands that" she added.

True, it _did_ take a certain intensity to be on the squad, any squad. But it wasn't as if Betty lacked it, she just didn't _need_ it. She had passion without needing to be a bitch about it.

"I know what you need, Cheryl, because I know who you are" Veronica spoke up. I listened with interest while Betty stood beside us, looking as uncomfortable as ever. "You would rather people fear than like you, so you traffic in terror and intimidation." She wasn't wrong. And I couldn't help the satisfied smirk that appeared on my face when I saw that Cheryl was starting to react to Veronica's words. "You're rich, so you've never been held accountable, but I'm living proof. That certainty, that _entitlement_ you wear on your head like a crown? It won't last. Eventually, there will be a reckoning. Or..." Veronica paused, slowly stepping towards the head cheerleader. "Maybe that reckoning is now" she added. "And maybe, that reckoning... is _me_."

"Betty, Veronica and I come as a matching set" I finally spoke. Silently thanking Veronica for feeding my inner bitch. "No Betty, No Veronica. No Roxie" I added. coming to stand next to the brunette resting my elbow on her shoulder. "You wanna keep me? You take them _both_."

"You wanted fire?" Veronica asked. "Sorry _CherylBombshell_, my specialty's ice."

* * *

Veronica Lodge was a gift from the heavens, and the fact that she had gotten Betty on the squad was the absolute greatest. Cheryl had tried to give Betty a uniform that was two sizes to big, but I instantly shoved it back into the evil redheads hands and made her go get a new one. She looked great, of course, the uniform fit her perfectly and her iconic ponytail was held with a large blue scrunchie.

"Perfect" Veronica commented.

"Very Betty Draper, season 1" I smirked

"Veronica?" Betty tapped the other girls shoulder after she had turned around to look in the mirror. "Why did... why did you defend me?" asked. "I know why Roxie did, but we've been best friends for as long as I could remember, but..." she trailed off for a moment. "I know that crowd you ran with in New York. Why are you being so... nice?"

"Cuz you're awesome, Bets, obvi" I told her with a roll of my eyes, flipping my fiery curls over my shoulder. "Now come on. Lets get out of here."

After grabbing our bags, the three of us wandered out of the girls locker room and started walking.

"You're right" Veronica told Betty with a wary, almost sad smile, "I ran with girls like Cheryl Blossom back in New York. Hell I _was_ a girl like Cheryl, but..." she trailed off with a sigh. "When my father got arrested, it was the worst thing ever. All these trolls started writing horrible things about us. We'd get letters and e-mails saying that my dad was a thief, my mom was a clueless socialite, and I was the spoiled rich-bitch ice princess. And, what hurt the most about it was...the things the trolls were writing were true. Like I said, I was like Cheryl. I was _worse_ than Cheryl. So, when my mom said we were moving to Riverdale, I made a pact with my self to use this as an opportunity to become maybe, hopefully, a better version of myself. "

"That's a lot of pressure" Betty said.

"But if anyone can it'll be you, V" I smiled. "Plus I got your back."

"When Polly and Jason got together..." Betty started to explain, picking up on an unasked question in Veronica's dark eyes. "It meant _everything_ to her and _nothing_ to him, and" she sighed. "And things got super intense and weird and toxic and my mom turned on Polly. Said Polly wasn't her daughter anymore, said all these _awful_ things to her. Jason hurt Polly..." Betty paused, her eyes turning red from the unshed tears. "But it was my mom who broke her."

The three of us walked in silence for a little bit. Betty's story hanging around us like a dark, twisted shroud. Though Betty Cooper was my absolute best friend in the entire universe, she came from an exceedingly fucked up family. Her parents, Alice and Hal Cooper, glared at Archie and me more often than not and they always had _something_ to say and it was _never_ nice. Ever. Alice and Hal Cooper were dicks.

"Archie!" Veronica called out when she saw my twin jogging across the practice field in his football gear. "You are _so_ doing this" she told Betty lowly.

Catching on to what the brunette cheerleader was doing, I couldn't help the smirk that formed on my lips. "Oh _hell yea"_ I said lowly.

"What?"

"Slaying your dragons, Betty Cooper, one by one" said Veronica as my twin came jogging over to us. "Hi, Teen Outlander."

"Hey" my brother greeted breathlessly. "Nice outfits, Roxie talk you into cheerleading?" he asked jokingly before giving me a smelly side hug.

"She did" Veronica grinned. "But we're here because _Betty_ has something she wants to ask you about the back to school dance."

"Go on, Betty ask" I prompted.

"I wondering if you wanted to come with... the both of us." Damn, how did Veronica and I not see this coming? Well... okay so I know why V didn't, but I've known Betty since childhood. This was a total 'Betty Cooper' move.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"It's your first dance at Riverdale" Betty covered. "You should have someone to go with, even if it's just a friend."

"I mean, I'd love to" our new friend said warmly.

"I-I'm not really in the headspace for a dance" Archie told the girls.

I swear I could feel Betty's disappointment from here. "Oh... that's okay."

"Totally unacceptable, Archiekins!" Veronica's voice demanded. "We need an escort."

"Yes, big brother" I smiled. "Take a break from being a tortured musical genius and take my girls to the dance."

"That's not one, but _two_ newly-minted River Vixens" the girl next to me smiled. "We'll text you the time and the place."

"And if your phone 'mysteriously dies', I'll see you at home" I smiled, sticking my tongue out playfully. With a chuckle, my brother agreed before heading back to practice.

Betty, Veronica and I continued on our way in silence after that. Between the three of us there was so much going on, enough to keep us in our own heads. Betty Cooper had finally had a dream come true. She was on the cheerleading squad, just like her big sister. But there was yet another dragon for her two slay; a dragon named Alice Cooper. Betty's mom was an extremely unfair human being and I wouldn't be surprised if she were a hypocrite too. Most bitches like her were. In my opinion, Betty Cooper deserved the world. She was always trying her hardest to be what she believed was perfect. But shes never gotten anything in return but disappointment.

Veronica Lodge was being put through the wringer. To quote Frenchie, the only man a girl can trust is her daddy. But what if your father was thrown into federal prison for embezzlement and other nefarious charges? Everything that I had seen of the girl today just proved how strong she was. Granted I didn't know her that well quite yet, but I _knew_ that Veronica was a great person. Plus she had a knack for getting people to agree with her.

I kept secrets. I lied to a lot of people, except for Archie. Usually it was just where I was going and who I was seeing. The last three months, all summer, I had been sneaking off to the southside and partying at a bar called the Whyte Wyrm. For a while I was just running from a broken heart, but after those first few weeks of summer, it became more than that. The Serpents that frequented the biker bar had become my friends, a few of the boys my age even went over to Greendale to threaten my ex-boyfriend. The only person who knew _something_ was my boss, Pop Tate. If dad or Archie or Betty would ask if I had been working, the diner owner would cover for me and have me pick up some extra hours; Pop was a real MVP. Thankfully Archie had spent so much time either working for dad or working on his music that he never had the chance to ask me where I had been going.

Archie was hiding something. I knew he was. Just like I couldn't lie to my twin, he couldn't lie to me. Though he had better luck with it, especially lately. It was like when Mom decided to leave us to start a new life in Chicago, he had become a different person. The both of us had really. Sure we were never attached at the hip like the Blossom Twins. But we had always been close. I mean we were still close, but something had shifted and changed in our personal lives. Something that led to my big brother hiding things from me.

Normally it was the other way around.

It seemed as if secrets were Riverdales bread and butter. Some, like Betty's parents, were paid to unearth them. To spread the fires of discord through the town via their glorified gossip column of a newspaper. Compared to others, my secrets weren't that bad. I just went down to the southside to party and hang out with Juggie at the Twilight Drive-In. And by 'hanging-out' I mean bugging him while he was working.

It wasn't just my own secrets that I kept, either. Jughead didn't want Archie to know that he wasn't living at home. Didn't want anyone to know that he had been sleeping in the projection booth at the drive in. So I kept his secret. Betty Cooper, my best friend in the entire world, didn't want my brother to know that she has been in love with him for as long as either of us could remember.

Not even Dad knew that I knew about our bills. I did what I could to help out, slipping more than half of my paycheck from Pops into our Emergency Jar.

I kept secrets, that what I did.

* * *

I didn't want to go to the stupid semi-formal. But Veronica had all but demanded that I go. It was her first dance here in Riverdale and she wanted to spend it with her new friends. Which I guess I understood. So, I dug through my closet, looking for my favorite black dress. I hadn't worn it since last year, when my Mom dragged me to a wedding in Midvale.

As I rummaged through my closet, my hands brushed a familiar piece of leather. A part of me wanted to wear the soft leather jacket that I had been given over the summer. But that wouldn't be a good idea. This wasn't a secret I wanted to share quite yet. So as the memories of the summer fluttered through my mind, I released the jacket sleeve and grabbed the flowy blue-black dress.

It didn't take long to slip into the dress, the lacy over-lay sweeping my knees. I didn't need to do much hair and make-up wise, so soon enough I was pulling on my favorite black heeled sandals.

I wasn't surprised to see Archie and our dad waiting at the foot of the stairs. "You ready to go?" I asked my brother. "We have to pick up Betty and Veronica at the Pembroke."

* * *

The four of us entered the decorated gym side by side and instantly we were met with Jason Blossoms varsity football pictures. They were everywhere and it was creepy. It was as I walked deeper into the gym that I realized how much I had changed.

Sure I still loved all of the same things I did in freshman year. I still worked on my comics and I adored cheer. But being here, at semi-formal, I felt different. I didn't enjoy the music that thumped into the gym, I didn't feel the same jubilation I did at the prospect of drinking spiked punch.

I'd much rather be drinking beer and throwing darts at the Whyte Wyrm. The Southside Serpents weren't perfect, far from it actually. But partying with them was more fun than _this_. With I sigh, I moved from my friends side and walked over to Reggie and Moose.

The second I stepped up to the punch bowl, Moose fumbled the flask in his hands as he tried to put it back in his jacket pocket. "I'm not going to narc, losers" I scoffed, shoving passed them so that I could fill a cup with the spiked punch.

When in Rome, right?

Sipping my spiked drink, I moved around the dance floor. As much as I loved the Pussycats, I just wasn't feeling the music. Maybe it was the super cringey dedication. No one wanted to think of the Blossom twins conception.

I felt awkward. Standing on the sidelines, watching my friends dance. But then, I saw both Kevin and Veronica eyeing Betty and my brother. Curious, I refilled my cup and wandered over to my friends.

"Whats going on?" I asked.

"Betty and Archie" Kevin said, causing my to roll my eyes.

"Obviously, genius" I said.

"Shhh. I'm trying to listen" Veronica hushed us, still swaying with Kevin to the slow tune that Josie and her girls were providing. But I couldn't hear what Betty was saying, not over the light chatter and the music. As the blonde spoke, however, Archie's gaze rested on a figure sitting by the opposing punch bowl.

Why was my brother giving heated glances to the music teacher?

Josie stopped singing a moment later, causing the couples surrounding the dance floor to break apart and applaud. A look of disappointment washing over Bettys face. Though I might not have been able to hear exactly what she had been trying to say, I had a feeling that it had to do with her unrequited feelings.

* * *

I didn't go to Cheryl Blossoms stupid after-party. I bailed halfway through the dance so why would I want to go to the after-party? Instead I grabbed my bag from my locker and hoofed it to the southside, silently praying that Dad never found out about this. I had just barely managed to get Archie to cover for me with dad, telling him that I was hanging out with some friends.

Not technically a lie. The Serpents are my friends.

With the soft leather of my jacket on my back I pushed passed the doors of the Whyte Wyrm. The familiar chatter of the people who I have become most accustomed too swirled around me. I was actually surprised to see my Serpent Ride-or-Die, Toni, at the pool tables instead of behind the bar.

"Hey girl" I greeted with a smile, swinging my arm over her shoulder.

"You didn't get all dressed up for little old me, did you Northside?" she asked, batting her eyelashes playfully.

"Semi-formal, loser" I scoffed, stealing the bottle from her hand. "I ditched halfway through."

The southside wasn't too fond of the people of the northside. It didn't help that my best friends mother was always demonizing not only the Southside Serpents, but the entire community. So not too long after I met Toni, and after the Boss vouched for me, I made rules for myself. The first being that I would not step foot on the southside of Riverdale wearing, or holding, anything that was blue and gold. Second being that I wouldn't let the glares and indignant scoffs that came from guys like Tall Boy get to me. Lastly, I only took orders from the Boss. If Tall Boy or Mustang or anyone else from the old guard approached me with a job, I would tell them to choke on their switchblades. Boss agreed, too, so that helped.

Toni and the guys made me feel a little less like an outsider. We were the future for this club, and there was much we wanted to change.


End file.
